At Home: Spanish Strata

A strata is a savory brunch/breakfast casserole that is layered with bread and other fillings.  Like with bread puddings, it's always good to use any stale bread you have on hand.  With the holidays wrapping up, I still was feeling a bit lazy and thought a quick breakfast casserole would be easy to throw together using whatever I had on hand in the refrigerator. We had a lovely Spanish meat and cheese platter with pan con tomate for New Year's Eve. There was plenty leftover, so I thought I could use up these ingredients to make this Spanish Strata for my next breakfast creation on What Micky Eats...At Home.

Spanish Strata

• 5 cups cubed bread
• 8 eggs
• ½ cup milk
• 1 orange pepper, diced
• 8 oz. Spanish jamon, salami, or other sausage
• 3 Tbsp of grated Manchego
• salt and pepper to taste 

- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Lightly spray a 8x8 inch glass baking dish and set aside.
- Layer in the cubed bread, then the diced orange pepper, and meats.
- Whisk the eggs and milk together; season with salt and pepper, and then pour over the rest into the baking dish.
- Top with cheese.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cooked through and slightly golden brown on edges.
- Serve immediately!

This breakfast casserole was easy to prepare in the morning, but you can save even more time by prepping it the night before.  Simply cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator over night.  Just take it out and let sit for 30 minutes to bring up to room temperature before baking.  The bread was more filling than it looked.  The strata is like a savory bread pudding that you can jazz up with whatever combination of meats or vegetables that you like.  I especially enjoyed the crunchy corners.  Have you made a strata before?

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